Abby Wendel, Acacia Wetzstein
Block 4

The Great Russia

The land

• Russia is the largest country in the world
• Almost twice the size of the U.S.
• Much of Russia is plains
• Deepest fresh water lake
• A large frozen tundra dominates the north
• Ural mountains divide Russia’s European side from the Asian side
• Four of the largest rivers are located in Russia

Climate and vegetation

• Climate varies by region
• Siberia is mostly taiga
• Tundra is to the north
• Steppe climate to the south
• Winters last November to March

Population and Culture

• Over 142 million people live in Russia
• Moscow has a population of 10 million
• Moscow is the largest city in Russia
• Russian orthodox church is what most Russians are
• Russian orthodox claims 15-20% of most Russians
• Russian is their official language
• Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters

History and Government

• Slavic settled in Eastern Europe early Christian era
• Slavs ruled for 240 years
• 1814 Russia defeated France’s Napoleon
• Expansion in soviet influencing the developing world
• 1922,Bolsheviks formed union of soviet socialists

Economy

• Natural resources give great potential for economic growth
• Oil, natural gas, coal, diamonds, and precious metals are sufficient
• 2008 falling oil prices and global financial crisis hit Russia hard
• 2009 outburst of droughts and fires reduced agricultural output
• Recovery began in late 2009
• Economy was boosted up again in 2011 by rising oil prices
• Currency is rubel
• Most people use public transportation

Global issues

• Boost of crude oil prices lasted through 2008
• Financial institutions lowered credit ratings
• Russian markets were worsened by countries outdated capital market
• Russian stock market is down 70%
• Russia is sharply declining export earnings from energy in metals